Heart of Firebreath
by Hiccup-Rosenblatt
Summary: When winter starts to set over the desert Duncan's powers start to go haywire. What will happen when someone goes missing and a ransom is demanded? Who is it and what is the ransom?
1. Chapter 1: Winter sets in

**Disclaimer: I do not own Firebreather or any of its characters.**

**Take it ease on me. This is my first ever story so leave me feed back. I hopefully plan on making this a long story and will try to keep it updated often.**

**I made a few changes and corrections to this chapter. just small ones.**

SLAP! It hurt more than she thought it would have. "I cant believe you are breaking up with me!" Jenna was furious. Holding her hand from the pain of slapping his rock hard skin, she looked at him with a sort of death stare. "No one has ever broken up with me!"

She turned to walk away.

"Jenna.." Duncan reached out a hand to grab her but stopped before he did. He let her walk away. He made his way to the cafeteria where Isabel and Kenny were waiting for him at their usual table.

"I heard that echo throughout the whole school," Isabel said, trying to contain her happiness. She never did like Jenna and thought Duncan deserved more. "So what was all that about anyway?"

"I broke up with her." He kept his head down as though upset, but couldn't hide the fact that this was a huge weight off his shoulders. "She was just becoming more.. well.. demanding. She expected nothing less of me than to walk her to every class, wait for her after all her meetings, remember the exact coffee she wanted and to get it for her every morning. It was exhausting! I could just feel my temper flaring; I couldn't handle it anymore." He let out a huge sigh of relief and began eating his coal.

His temper had been getting worse ever since the kaiju in him was awakened by his father, Belloc. Sometimes he feels the fire rising in him and has to learn to contain his anger. It doesn't help, though, that winter is beginning to settle in on the town. Though the town is in the middle of a desert, winters can still be brutal. Most people in the town are used to it and can handle the cold, but Duncan, being half kaiju and therefore cold blooded, finds it very hard on his body. Though he won't go into hibernation like other kaiju will because of his human side, it is still very unsettling to him.

Once their lunch period was over, Duncan and Kenny parted ways with Isabel and headed off to boys gym. The girls had one side of the gym and the boys the other side. As they walked in Duncan noticed Jenna sitting alone in the bleachers. Troy also spotted her and began making his way over. "Come on Duncan, its not your problem anymore." Kenny snapped his attention away from Jenna and Troy. "Let Troy deal with her now. You said she was a high maintenance bitch anyways."

"I didn't say that! I just said she was exhausting. I still wanted to be friends but she took it harder than I thought." They both sat down with the rest of the guys and started stretching. Not long after, however, Duncan found himself looking over at Jenna again. Troy and Jenna both were now standing and were in, what looked like, a very heated argument. Troy said something to offend her because she raised a hand to slap him too, but Troy caught her forearm and tried to lean in to kiss her. She tried to pull away but he threw her to the ground. "Can I help you with something dragon boy?!"

Coming back to his senses, he just noticed he had walked over to troy and Jenna and was now facing Troy eye-to-eye. He could feel his talons start growing and his kaiju side rising up like a flame.

"I ain't afraid of you, freak! You wanna fight? Lets go! Right here, right now!"

_Troy__ is either very stupid or very brave. _"You really wanna fight me Troy?" His lip curled into a sort of snarl and he smiled. He could feel is teeth growing and changing into sharp fangs. He'd been wanting to let some anger off.

With both of them standing practically nose to nose, Barnes walks up behind Duncan, grabs his shoulder and pushes him backwards onto the gym floor. "Calm down buttercup." He turns and faces Troy and pokes a finger hard to his chest. "Quit trying to pick fights you can't win. He'd be picking you out of his teeth by now if I hadn't stopped him." The whole gym giggle quietly at that last, oddly causal remark. After he finished with Troy and Jenna had headed back to the girls side, Barnes had turned to see Duncan still on the floor. His face was down and hidden and his talons were digging into the gym floor leaving ten, very deep holes. "Hey, calm yourself. He's benched the rest of the season. Anyway, you ain't getting out of class that easily." He started to walk away to start class, but the next thing he knew, Duncan had gone full kaiju.

_What's happening? Why aren't I changing back? Why did I change fully in the first place? I was calming down. _He was standing up staring at his hands. There where holes in the shoulders of his shirt and jacket were his skin had transformed into his thick kaiju armor. The heart of his firebreath was glowing in the center of his chest. Every one was now staring at him and Kenny was now standing behind him.

"Duncan?"

"Duncan! I said you need to calm down." Barnes was shaking him by his shoulders trying to get him to his senses.

After he snapped out of his kind of trance-like state, he noticed Barnes and Kenny staring at him. "I don't know what's happening!" he growled.

Barnes pushed him passed Kenny and outside to the parking lot where and old broken down bus was parked. They stepped inside and flew off in the Megtaf jet. Duncan was sitting in his seat by the window but he felt like he was on fire. He was grabbing onto the sides of his seat clawing into it. "I'm taking you to Dr. Patel so don't tear up the jet before we get there."

He must have blacked out because the next thing he knew he was waking up on the table in 's office, back to normal. "What happened?" he said drowsily.

"Well..." He heard the unmistakable, nasally voice of . "Your body is reacting to the sudden decrease in temperature from the desert winter. You may be half human but you are still cold blooded. Your body transformed itself to keep its temperature up. Unfortunately, Duncan, there is not much you can do to avoid or prevent it."

"Will there be any other surprises?" Barnes looked completely irritated. He has never been crazy about the fact that Margaret's son is half kaiju. But lately, his grudge against the kaiju has kept him too busy to think about Margaret.

"Well, it's hard to tell right now. But as the temperature gets lower, other side effects should start to reveal themselves."

"I need some answers Doc. Can you tell me at least some of the possible side effects. I don't feel like having to fill in another ten holes in my gym floor." Barnes shot a quick glance at Duncan who was now gripping the table and shivering uncontrollably. Barnes and both rushed over to calm him down, one on either side of him trying to hold down his arms and legs. Duncan was resisting and thrashing with all his strength. He was too strong for the two of them, even in his human form. They were eventually able to strap down his limbs to keep him from hurting them or himself.

Slowly blinking in and out of consciousness, he finally woke up. _What happened? Why can't I move_? He tried to say that out loud but found he had no voice. He started to panic until he realized where he was. _I'm still in Doc's office. _ He sighed with relief and relaxed.

"Duncan!" Margaret had walked in and once she noticed he was awake she rushed over to him.

_Mom!_ He tried to speak but no words came out.

"Duncan, don't worry. Patel said it will take a little while for your voice to come back. You've been out for two days."

At that Duncan shot up, only to be brought back down because of the straps. He tried to break them but it didn't work. He thought all his strength had left him.

She spoke up as thought reading his mind. "Don't worry you still have all your strength. These straps are made of kaiju hide. You won't be able to break them." She began to take them off. "You haven't missed any school. It was Friday when you were brought here in the middle of gym. Its Sunday afternoon now."

Duncan sat up slowly. He felt the heat in his chest cooling off. The scales on his skin slowly started to reduce. _So what happened this time?_ Again, no sound came out, but she must have read his lips because she answered him.

" said it was another side effect of the cold weather. We cooled you down a little too much and too fast after your first reaction, that your body was compensating for lack of heat. Come on, I'm getting you back home. After all, you still have school tomorrow." She smiled and walked out to the jet to wait for him. Though she said he still has all his strength, he still felt weak and drowsy when he stood up. He headed back to the jet and left for home.

The next day at lunch, Duncan looked up from eating his coal and both Kenny and Isabel were staring at him, their food untouched. "What?" he said with sincere confusion, mouth full of food. He swallowed, "I'm fine. I promise." They both raised an eyebrow. He sighed an exhausted sigh and gave in.

After explaining everything to them, they both still hadn't said a word. "Well are you going to be okay? What if it happens again?" Isabel had stood up and started pacing. "What if you burn down the whole school?!"

"Isabel, I'll be fine. Doc said there isn't much I can do to prevent it, but at least now I can expect it and leave if I need to." Duncan had resumed eating.

"You looked pretty angry in gym before you left. You looked like you were going to rip Troy's head off. What happened with you two? I thought after the whole kaiju attack y'all became friends." Kenny had resumed eating, saying every few words between bites.

"Well we were at first. But once he found out that me and Jenna had also made up and gotten together.. well.. his jealousy kind of took over from there."

At the end of the day, Kenny had left for home and Isabel's mom had just arrived to pick her up. "You wanna ride home, Duncan?"

"Nah I think I'll just fly." He smiled and turned. He can always feel the pain as his wings rip through his back, but only for a moment. As he took off his wings grew stiff and began to freeze over. He fell out of mid air and landed a few feet from where he took off.

Isabel rushed over to him to help him up. "Are you alright, Duncan?!"

"M-my wings.. I can't feel them!" He stood up and tried to stretch his wings but they were too stiff. As he retracted his wings, he could feel more pain than usual from his frozen wings. "I think I'll take you up on your offer after all."


	2. Chapter 2: Back to school

**I finally got chapter 2 finished. I know my grammar isn't the best but I don't care, J as long as my story comes out good.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Firebreather or any of its characters.**

A few days had passed. He still could not use his wings and was having a little trouble keeping warm. "Duncan, I think we should talk to your father. He might know a way to prevent all this." Duncan was sitting on the couch while Margaret was putting bandages on all his scrapes from his fall earlier. "It was nice of Isabel and her mom to give you a ride home." She walked into the kitchen to get him a glass of water. He fell backwards to lay on his back on the couch.

"I've tried to see Dad several times after that whole fiasco. Megtaf won't let me see him!"

"I will call Megtaf today and talk to Barnes about seeing him. You know I never give him a choice in matters like this." She smiled. "Until I get everything sorted out you will continue going to school. You don't need to miss anymore than you have too."

He shot up. "School?! After what happened?! What am I supposed to do? My abilities are going haywire."

Margaret sat next to him and gave him the glass of water. "I know, but there isn't much else we can do. Just go to school and if anything else starts to happen, just walk out of class for a bit until it has stopped. I will inform Barnes and the rest of the teachers." He fell backwards again.

The next day Isabel, Kenny, and Duncan met each other in their first class. Duncan had explained everything to them just before the teacher walked in to start class. First period went fine. During second period he started to feel chilly and had to put on a jacket. In the middle of third period Isabel had looked back at him. "Duncan?" she whispered. His eyes had turned a bright yellow and his pupils were slits. His fangs and talons started growing. "Are you alright?" He walked out of class without saying a word. He didn't show up to fourth period at all. Come lunchtime, he was back to himself and sat at his usual table with Kenny and Isabel.

"What happened, man?" Kenny's mouth was full and his tone casual. Isabel on the other hand, hadn't touched her food. She was staring at Duncan with worry all over her face.

"Don't worry Isabel. I'm fine now." Duncan smiled and took a bite of his lunch.

"But what happened? Where did you go?" She looked a little less worried now with a little reassurance from Duncan, but was still curious nonetheless.

"Once I started feeling cold I could feel the fire rising in my chest. My transformation had already started happening before I left the classroom. I had to leave before it fully happened."

"So where'd you go?" Isabel had finally begun to eat something.

"Well lets just say, there's no longer a janitor's closet on the second floor." He smiled and continued eating.

"Nicely done, bro. You gonna destroy the math lab next? I'd like to skip algebra, we've got a test today." At Kenny's remark they all laughed and finished their lunch.

As they started walking to fifth period Duncan suddenly doubled in pain. He was on his hands and knees on the floor with Isabel and Kenny beside him trying to help him up. "Come on, Duncan, walk it off. Everyone is staring," Isabel said softly, concern growing in her voice. It was true, people had started staring as they walked passed and some had even stopped to watch. "Move along! This isn't a circus." Kenny had started pushing the crowd back and getting them to move on, Isabel was helping. All of a sudden everyone gasped and Kenny and Isabel had turned back around to see Duncan in even more pain, crouched all the way down to the ground. Something started ripping through his back. His wings were forcing themselves out. Then, abruptly, they shot out of his back putting him in immense agony. He and his wings fell flat to the floor and he passed out.

Minutes later, or what felt like days to Duncan, he awoke to see the faces of his two friends staring at him, along with half the school. "What happened?" he said wearily. He started to get up then realized his jacket was torn to shreds on the back and his wings were out. He quickly got very confused, then remembered that his abilities weren't exactly under control.

"Come on, we need to get you home." Isabel pulled him up to standing and started to walk, but Duncan pulled his wrist out of her hand. "Duncan?"

He smiled, even laughed a bit. "No, I came today to try to make it through the school day, and that's what I'm going to do." The three of them walked to their fifth period.

As soon as fifth period started, Isabel and Kenny then realized why he had laughed earlier. Everybody was more focused on Duncan, sitting on the far left of the second row with his wings still out, than the teacher. Thanks to Margaret, had known ahead of time about Duncan's problems, but found it very hard to get the class's attention. "Class, you act like a bird just flew in through a window." The class sniggered at this remark. Duncan smiled. "Should I just get Duncan to teach the class then?" The class laughed again, Duncan along with them. One girl raised her hand.

She stood up. "He might be a little more interesting, ," she said with a smile.

"Ha ha, very funny, Diamond. Now, ," he said mockingly, "if you'll have a seat I would like to finish teaching." As soon as he had finally gotten everyone's attention and turned around to continue teaching, the bell rang. The whole class burst out in laughter. "Well that figures," said, laughing. "I will see you all on Monday."

Sixth and seventh period came and went, pretty much like fifth did. After seventh period Duncan still could not retract his wings. "So are you just going to fly home, dude?" Kenny asked.

"No, I don't want to take the chance of what happened last time. I think I'll just walk home." Duncan smiled. Isabel opened her mouth but Duncan interrupted her before she could get any words out. "Thanks for the offer Isabel, but I don't think me and my wings would fit in your mom's little sedan. I'll be fine walking."

"Ok, if you're sure." They all said their goodbyes and headed off home.

"Duncan?!" Margaret was both confused and startled when he walked in the front door. Then she remembered. She sighed then sat down on the couch and handed him a glass of water. "So I take it school didn't go so well?"

"Actually, it wasn't that bad. I kinda wrecked a janitor's closet though. And other than my wings ripping from my back, the day was pretty good." He took a sip of his water.

"Well I guess that's go..." She paused then doubled back. "Wait did you say your wings 'ripped' from your back?" She was stunned.

He coughed in the middle of taking a sip of water. He hadn't meant for it to sound so alarming. "No, no. Don't worry Mom. I'm fine. It kinda entertained the rest of the school though." He laughed a bit, though Margaret still seemed overly worried.

"Well, are you hurt? Do you need to go to a doctor?"

"No, Mom. I told you, I'm fine. It hurt at first but that's it. I just haven't been able to retract them since."

"Ok..." She still didn't seem convinced. "Well, it's late. Head to bed and I will tell you about my call with Barnes tomorrow." They both headed off to bed.

Duncan found it very hard to sleep that night. Since he couldn't retract his wings, it was very hard for him to find a good sleeping position. Most of the time he liked to sleep on his back; he tried that but it didn't work out too well, for obvious reasons. He tried sleeping on either of his sides but that didn't work either. Finally he just decided to lay on his stomach. But with his wings still out, it was difficult for him to cover up. He pulled the covers up as far as he could until they reached the base of his wings, then he pulled them up around the best he could.

The next morning he woke up, wings still out, but he felt better. He had gotten more sleep than he expected. He assumed all the stuff he went through yesterday had tired him out. He started to get dressed then realized the shirt he was wearing, which he had worn to bed, was torn to bits. He tore the shirt off but wasn't going to even attempt to put another shirt on. So he put the jacket on he was wearing yesterday, which already had holes in the back for his wings, and put some pants on and headed downstairs. He walked down to find his mom making pancakes. He sat down and started eating.

"Good morning, Duncan. You feeling better this morning?"

"Yea, I feel a lot better than yesterday," he said with a mouthful of food.

"Well that's good." There was a short silence then Margaret spoke first. "So I know I promised you I'd try to get you in to see your father. Well..." He could see the look of disappointment on her face.

"Big shocker there. Let me guess, they refused to let me come and see him?"

She sighed then a big smile grew on her face. She looked up. "You really think I gave Barnes a choice? Of course I got you in." She laughed.

Duncan had a look of shock on his face. "Really?! So when do we leave?!" He stood up and started heading to the door.

"Woah, slow your role there. At least finish your breakfast first." He sat down and practically scarfed down his breakfast. He started heading for the car when he realized he wouldn't fit inside with his wings still out. Margaret followed him outside and saw him standing there. "Why don't you try to fly? You never know, you said yourself you were feeling better." He hesitated a bit the began to take off slowly. Margaret followed him in her car until they got to the Megtaf base. When they got to the base, Barnes led them to the cage where Belloc was being held.

"Duncan my son, and Margaret," he greeted them. His deep voice shook the ground. "What brings you here to see me?"

They began to explain everything to him. Just as they were finishing up, Margaret collapsed to the ground. Belloc growled. Duncan ran over to her. She had been shot with some kind of spine. He pulled it out and showed it to Belloc. " Abbadon!" He yelled. "Duncan get out of here! Your mother will be fine! She is just asleep! Now leave!"

"I'm not leaving here wi..." Something hit his neck. He slapped a hand to his neck and pulled out a similar spine. He heard an earsplitting roar and his vision went blurry. He felt himself collide with the ground and everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3: The Ransom

**ATTENTION: I have noticed that i put in the story that Duncan is eating a grilled cheese. i have now corrected that where he is eating coal like he should be.**

**Next chapter up! I hope y'all are enjoying my story. Reviews please!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Firebreather or any of its characters.**

Duncan opened his eyes but everything was still blurry. He could just barley make out the faint shapes of his mom and friends. "Where am I?" He tried to stand up but found he had no strength at all and fell back down on what he assumed was his bed, his wings still out but limp and numb.

"Don't try to stand Duncan." Isabel's hand fell on his shoulder. He couldn't stand even if he wanted to. "You are back at your house. You are still recovering so you need to stay in bed."

"Recovering from what?"

"From poison, bro." came Kenny's usually casual voice.

"Poison!?" It came to such a shock to Duncan he tried to sit up again but didn't get too far. "How did I get poisoned? The last thing I remember is talking with Dad, Mom falling to the ground, then... nothing. I know Dad was trying to get me out of there after Mom had collapsed."

"Your father was trying to get you to leave for good reason," came the familiar voice of his mom. He heard Margaret ask Isabel and Kenny to wait downstairs in the living room. She turned back to Duncan. "I've already explained everything to them." She took a long pause and then started explaining. "The reason your father wanted you to leave is because the venom on the spine you were shot with, is poisonous to kaiju. It only tranquilizes humans. It won't kill kaiju, but typically it would knock them out for several weeks. Since you are only half kaiju, you were only knocked out for the rest of the day."

"What time is it now; how long were you out? And why is my vision still blurry?" He tried to focus his eyes but it just gave him a headache. He snorted out of frustration and some smoke came out his nostrils.

Margaret let out a small cough. "It's three in the morning now. I was only out for a couple of hours. I woke up in a chair in Patel's office. You were still passed out and laying on the bed. Your blurry vision is a side effect of the poison. Just get some sleep for now. You should be alright in the morning. Isabel and Kenny are both refusing to leave, so they are staying the night in the living room." Duncan smiled. _ I will tell him about Belloc in the morning. Right now he needs his rest._ She went downstairs to help Isabel and Kenny set up their sleeping pallets; Isabel on the couch and Kenny on the floor. She offered them some water then headed back upstairs and went to bed. Duncan was able to fall asleep quite easily, despite the fact that his wings lay underneath him.

The next morning, Duncan woke up to hear his friends and his mom downstairs talking. His wings were no longer numb and he was able to finally retract them. He walked down to the living room to find them all eating lunch. "Morning sunshine," Margaret said. She was standing over the stove making a grilled cheese.

"Lunch? What happened to breakfast?" he said aloud. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs, weary, yawning, and rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's already 1:17. You slept in real late, man." Kenny was sitting at the kitchen island eating a ham and cheese sandwich with some potato chips.

"How are you feeling?" Isabel was sitting next to him with a pb&j and some Cheetos.

"Better. My vision is back. I'm still a little tired though, but I think I breathed some fire in my sleep."

All three looked at him with puzzled expressions.

He laughed. "I woke up this morning... or afternoon... to find all my blankets reduced to ashes." The three of them laughed. Margaret finished the grilled cheese for herself then set a bowl of coal on the island for Duncan. He sat down and started eating.

Margaret hesitated then bluntly stated "Belloc has gone missing."

It all happened so fast. Duncan's stool fell to the ground, ten deep claw marks got impressed into the island counter, and Duncan's coal, along with the other two sandwiches, had been reduced to ashes with one shot of firebreath. Duncan was standing up, full kaiju, still gripping the counter, teeth bared and huffing smoke through his nose. His eyes were glowing yellow, pupils slits, and the heart of his firebreath was glowing bright in his chest. The other three had taken several steps back due to the sudden blast of flames. Isabel and Kenny had backed into the living room and Margaret into the fridge on the other side of the kitchen.

Margaret began to approach. "Duncan, calm down. Its okay; we will find him," she said with a soothing voice. She slowly walked around the island to stand behind him. She place a comforting hand on his rough, scaly shoulder. He turned around quickly and snarled out of instinct. As soon as he noticed the shocked expression on her face, he quickly calmed down and reverted back to human.

"Sorry." He sighed and picked his stool back up and sat down.

"It's alright Duncan. We all understand."

"Speak for yourself, Isabel. I wasn't finished eating my lunch." Kenny smiled; Margaret and Isabel laughed. Duncan smiled but wasn't much in the mood to laugh.

"So how are we supposed to find him? We don't even know who took him." Duncan folded his arms on the counter and laid his head down on his arms. He had continued talking but was too muffled to understand.

"Actually... we do know who took him." Margaret hesitated. She didn't want the same reaction as before. Duncan stood up, his face slowly contorting with anger. Isabel and Kenny both took a step back. Margaret stood her ground. "Duncan, you can't lose control. I will tell you but you have to calm down." She had a comforting voice trying to keep him calm. He settled and sat back down. "After we found your father missing, we noticed two others had gone missing: Abbadon and Astraroth. Both of them have awaken from their hibernation. Abbadon is the one who shot you."

Duncan started digging his talons into the counter again and breathing smoke. He took a deep breath and calmed down. Through gritted teeth he said, "Then, do you know _where_ they took him?"

"We have an idea." But before Margaret could say another word Duncan had already grabbed his coat ready to leave.

Isabel and Kenny stepped in front of him before he could open the front door. "We're coming with you." They both said it in unison.

"No!" he said startled. "No. It is two dangerous for the two of you."

They both grabbed their jackets. "You haven't got a choice." Isabel smiled. They both headed out to Margaret's car. Margaret got in the car and Duncan withdrew his wings. They both took off towards the large lake in the middle of the desert. By the time they made it to the lake, the sun was down and the stars were out. Margaret pulled up and all three of them got out. Duncan flew high above the lake and let out a huge explosion of flames. The whole lake evaporated and the desert beneath cracked wide open to reveal a cave full of large crystals. He flew in with the other three beneath him following. Duncan was hovering in mid air in the center of the cave. His eyes were closed and he was listening for any sign of movement. The other three reached the center and started looking around as well. All of a sudden Duncan took off down one of the caves. The other three began running to keep up. The three of them stopped at the entrance to the next large, open area. Duncan stopped as well, several feet in the air above them. It was a different area than last time. It wasn't filled with the hellish light from a pit of lava. This time it was pitch black. No body could see a thing. Duncan shot some flames to light up the cave but the fire quickly dissipated. This cave was very cold and humid. Fire wouldn't hold up here; there was too much moisture in the air. Due to the cold, however, Duncan's wings became rigid just like at the school. He fell out of mid air and collided hard with the ground.

"Duncan!" All three of them ran over to him. Isabel helped him up.

"Abbadon would have been counting on the cold to mess with my abilities."

"What do we do now, man?" Kenny asked.

"We keep going." Duncan stood to support himself. He took one step and almost fell again but caught himself. He continued walking, the other three continued as well. Every now and then he would let out a small burst of fire. Each time he did so, however, the flames got smaller. Finally they could see a faint light ahead in the distance. They made that their direction. As they walked, Duncan was feeling a lot better after that fall, but his abilities were getting worse. His firebreath was going out, his skin was becoming a pale orange, he couldn't transform, and he couldn't use his wings. He tried to keep his hands warm by breathing into them but that didn't last long either. Finally they made it to the source of the light. It was a large open area, but it seemed to have an invisible barrier around it. They found that out the hard way as they walked right into it. Ahead of them, they could see Abbadon and Astraroth and…

"Dad!" Duncan hit the barrier with all his strength, which wasn't much. It hadn't even made a dent. "What did you do to him?!" Belloc was laying on the ground unconscious. Duncan then noticed three of those spines in his neck. "What do you want from me?" His voice was quieter this time but seemed to have even more anger in it. He was trying his hardest to transform. It was like his body wanted to transform but was being forced not to.

"We have a ransom. You will fulfill this demand if you want Belloc back." Astraroth spoke first.

_A ransom? _Duncan thought. He could tell the other three were just as confused as he was. He looked up and saw Abbadon now holding something. It was a large black glowing stone shaped like a diamond, similar to the shape of his firebreath heart. It was huge though. "What is that?! And what is your demand?!" Abbadon was able to reach through the barrier and hand Duncan the stone. Although it was huge, it began to shrink as it fell into Duncan's hand. It was now the same size as his fire heart. Just sitting in his hand, this stone sent chills up through his spine. He looked up at him.

This time Abbadon spoke. "This is called the *Chante-peta stone. Press it into your chest after you transform and you can have your father back."

"I'm not putting this anywhere unless I know what it is going to do to me." He had a bad feeling about all this.

"This Chante stone, once pressed into your firebreath heart, will cause you to lose your kaiju side," Astraroth said.

"As long as it is inside you, you will no longer have any abilities. And it cannot be removed by any mere human," Abbadon said.

"We have an antidote to bring your father back to consciousness, but you must do as we demand first," Astraroth said.

Isabel had grabbed Duncan's arm and pulled him aside. Kenny and Margaret joined them. "You can't be considering this!" Isabel said.

"Why?! My abilities have caused me nothing but trouble lately." Duncan was looking at the stone in wonder. _Could I really get rid of my kaiju side_.

"Duncan, man, this has 'bad idea' written all over it. You can't trust those two." Kenny, usually so laid back, was actually starting to sound worried.

"You would be cutting off half of yourself. Kaiju is a part of you. You can't get rid of that. You will never forgive yourself." Margaret was trying to get Duncan to see sense.

Without saying another word, Duncan walked forward. This time he was able to walk right through the barrier. As soon as he did so, he felt the warmth rush over him like a warm blanket. He was now able to transform. He turned around to see the faces of his mom and two friends staring at him with discontent. He turned back around. He looked at Abbadon and Astraroth and then at his father. He raised his hand to his chest and pressed the stone in. It was painful, pure torture. Not a split second later he was on the ground screaming in agony. Minutes felt like days. Seconds seemed like hours. After about 30 minutes the pain stopped. He laid on the ground for a minute or two then stood up. He looked at his hands. There were no scales and his skin was no longer orange. He didn't feel as angry as he did before either. He looked at where the Chante stone had been placed. There was now a large blackish blue spot in the center of his chest. He looked up at his friends. "I'm human."

***Foot note – I used Chante-peta because it is native American for 'fire heart' it is pronounced Chante (Shantee) peta (Payta)**

**Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Escape

**Sorry it took so long. School and work has kept me busy, but here it is!**

**I know this is a very short chapter, but don't worry. The next chapter will be up very soon. : ) please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Firebreather or any of its characters.**

A split second later he was on the ground screaming. Isabel had turned away, not able to watch much longer. Kenny had turned to try and comfort Isabel. Margaret was frozen, staring in horror. She didn't know what to do or what she could do. His screaming lasted for about half an hour, though it seemed like days to Margaret. His kaiju DNA was being erased from his body. He finally stopped. She watched him stand up. He looked at his hands and turned to her. "I'm human."

He couldn't hide the relief that this had brought to him. He wouldn't have to worry about his powers not working or even going out of control anymore. He could live a normal life. He looked at his mom. She had finally gotten out of her frozen state. She looked at him then at the ground in disappointment. She turned away to join Isabel. Kenny turned to look at him. He wasn't orange, there were no scales, and there was a large black spot on his chest. "How do you feel, man?" He, also, had disappointment in his voice.

"I feel great. I don't feel my temper flaring up, I don't feel cold anymore, and my transformation isn't trying to force its way out like a bomb. I am finally human."

Duncan turned to look at his father who was still lying unconscious on the ground. Abbadon had already given him the antidote. He looked up at the two kaiju. "Why isn't he waking up?!"

"It will take almost half a day for the poison to leave his system," Abbadon said.

Duncan sighed. He turned to leave with his mom and friends but next thing he knew he was being flung across the cave and hit the barrier on the other side. "DUNCAN!" all three of them had said at the same time and they began to run towards him. Astraroth had just attacked. Both kaiju were now heading towards Duncan as well. Margaret, Isabel, and Kenny had gotten to Duncan first but still weren't able to pass through the barrier. He was out cold. They were all calling to him and banging their fists on the barrier trying to wake him up, but to no avail. The kaiju had reached him and Abbadon reached down and grabbed Duncan. Margaret and the other two were staring, helpless, in terror. As Abbadon raised his arm for another deadly throw, he was suddenly knocked to the ground causing him to drop Duncan. Belloc had woken up and attacked Abbadon. "Run!" came Belloc's thunderous voice. "Not without my son!" Margaret protested. Belloc turned toward the place he was laying and, in the corner, something they hadn't seen before, was a large fire glowing... purple? They hadn't noticed it before because it was behind the unconscious Belloc. Belloc ran over to the fire, knocking Astraroth down on his way, and smothered the fire to put it out. After the purple glow had disappeared the barrier disappeared as well. "Now grab Duncan and RUN!" Belloc growled. Kenny lifted Duncan, bridal style, and the three of them turned to run. As Margaret looked back at Belloc, who was now collapsing to the ground, and saw that he was being surrounded by Abbadon and Astraroth. The poison hadn't left his system yet after all.


	5. Chapter 5: Being Human

**I told you it would be up soon. Here is the next chapter! Enjoy.**

**Review please.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Firebreather or any of its characters.**

He opened his eyes. As his vision went from blurry to clear he noticed he was in a bright room. The walls and ceiling were all white. He was lying on a bed in what he figured was a hospital. He wasn't sure, however, seeing as he had never needed to go to a hospital before. He tried to sit up but his entire body was sore. He was hooked up to some IV's, one of his arms was in a cast, and he had scrapes and bruises all over him. He couldn't much move his body but still wasn't sure why. The last thing he remembered was becoming human and beginning to walk away with his friends and then... nothing. _What could have happened._ In an almost immediate answer to his question, the door burst open. Margaret, Isabel, and Kenny had walked in. Isabel ran over to Duncan to squeeze him. Duncan groaned in pain and Isabel let go. "Oh! Sorry."

"It's alright Isabel." Duncan turned to his mom. "What happened to me? Why am I here?"

"Isabel. Kenny. Could you give us some time?" Margaret asked.

"Of course. Take care, man." Kenny and Isabel left to the waiting room.

* * *

"WHAT?!"

Margaret had just finished explaining everything that happened, including what she saw as they were leaving. Duncan shot up but cringed in pain. He wasn't used to his human body yet. It was weaker and healed much slower. Margaret gently pushed him back down. "I don't want you getting up for a while. You need to rest and let your body heal. Dr. Tennant said you can come home tomorrow." Duncan sighed and rested his head on his pillow. He had no trouble falling asleep within seconds.

Duncan woke up the next morning to find himself back in his bed. That had been the best nights sleep he'd gotten in a while. He got up and found he was still very sore from yesterday's events. He made his bed, and headed downstairs for breakfast. When he got downstairs he saw his mom in the kitchen getting herself a glass of water. "Good Morning," she said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yea." He sat down to eat a bowl of cereal, which was the easiest thing to make with only one functioning hand. This is the first time he's been able to eat something besides coal. "What are we going to do about Dad?"

"Barnes has already led half of Megtaf out there. Belloc is back in his cage, but the other two were gone by the time they got there." She began to make herself some toast.

Duncan sighed. _Its no longer of my concern. I am human now and don't have to worry about kaiju matters. _"Should I be going back to school today?"

"Yes. You still need to go to school. Just take it easy with your arm, ok?"

"Ok." He couldn't help but think that Margaret was holding something in; that there was something she wasn't telling him. "You're upset with me."

Her face got serious. "No, I'm not. I just hope that being human is what you really want."

"It is." The next few minutes went by in silence. Duncan finished his cereal then headed upstairs to get ready for school.

When he got to school he found Kenny and Isabel sitting at their usual table, eating breakfast, waiting for the first bell to ring. He sat down with them and got a warm greeting from Kenny but...

"Isabel? Are you okay?" Duncan tried to meet her eyes but she kept her head down, avoiding him. "Are you upset with me?" She still didn't answer. He looked a Kenny but he just shrugged his shoulders. The bell rang and Isabel got up immediately and left for class. Duncan and Kenny got up and started walking to class as well. In the hallway Duncan noticed everyone staring at him. "You know, I did this to finally be normal but everyone is still staring." He said smiling.

"That's because everyone just got used to you before. For you, this is weird." They both laughed and found Isabel in the classroom.

Duncan sat next to her. "Why are you mad at me. I _wanted_ to do this. I didn't want to have to deal with my out of control abilities any more."

Isabel finally burst. "I liked the way you were! I always thought it was better being different. You brought excitement to my boring, normal life. Who would want to be normal! EVERYONE is normal! You should _want _to be different." She got really quiet. "I like you different."

Before he could respond to that, the lights in the whole school went off and the class got quiet. Mr. Kelly had just hung up the phone. "Class," he whispered, "everyone needs to get against this wall and stay very quiet. The school is in lockdown. There has been an alert that there is a shooter in our area. Turn all your phones off and get low. Stay very quiet." Everyone did as he said.

About an hour had passed and nothing had yet happened. Everyone was starting to relax thinking nothing was going to happen. All of a sudden, a gunshot went off out in the hallway. Everyone begins to panic. "Everyone needs to stay silent. No alarm has been sounded and the police do not know what is happening," Mr. Kelly whispered. That wasn't much help though. That did not do much to reassure the students.

Duncan looked to his right at Kenny. _Are you okay? _ he mouthed. Kenny nodded. Duncan believed him. Kenny looked very calm and trying to relax. He looked to his left at Isabel. She had her hands wrapped around legs and her head down on her knees. "Isabel? How are you doing?" he whispered in her ear. She didn't answer. He looked down and saw tears falling to the floor. He put his arm around her and tried to reassure her. Another gunshot sounded and they both jumped. Tears were streaming down her face. "No one is coming. No one know we are here." He looked at her, not sure what to say. Duncan was never afraid of guns; he never had to be. But now… He leaned his head back on the wall trying to think. He looked up at the ceiling and suddenly got an idea. _The fire alarm! _ he thought. _If I can set that off it will alert the police._ He took a deep breath and tried to breath fire. He suddenly got a pain in his chest. He clutched his hand to his chest and leaned over. "Are you okay?" Kenny whispered. Just as suddenly as the pain came, it was gone. He had forgotten that he was human. Apparently this stone is meant to punish him if he tried to use any of his former abilities. He growled, however it was not as ferocious as it usually was. _Abbadon failed to mention that to me._

He was out of ideas. He wasn't sure, now, how to alert the police. He whispered his failed plan to Kenny. Kenny reached into his pocket and pulled out a match box. Duncan smiled. Kenny lit one and stood up quickly to place the match under the smoke detector. The fire alarm sounded loud and clear. Something hit the floor in the hallway, then footsteps running. They heard a door open then slam closed.

Mr. Kelly got up first, motioning for everyone else to stay down and silent. He looked out the window of the door and saw a gun on the floor. The owner was no where to be found. Mr. Kelly sat back down with his students and they all waited for the police to arrive.

A little while later the police arrived and announced the all clear. Everyone filed outside. The gun had already been removed. Duncan, Kenny, and Isabel all got outside.

"Man, that was crazy. Glad that's over with." Kenny was relieved.

Duncan looked at Isabel. She was standing quite still with tears still coming down her face. After a second or two of hesitation she turned and threw her arms around Duncan. She began crying harder. "I was so scared. I didn't know if we were going to get out of there."

"I wasn't going to let anyone hurt you." He hugged her back. He saw Mr. Kelly behind her talking to a police officer. He shook his head 'no' then look real worried. The officer walked away. Duncan got out of the hug and, still holding hands with Isabel, walked over to him. "What happened?"

"The gun is missing. When I saw it gone out of the hallway I thought the police had gotten it, but they don't have it."

"Did the shooter get the gun back?!" Duncan asked.

"Couldn't have. The police have him in custody." He paused a minute. Suddenly his eyes got really wide then said, "unless he had an accomplice!"

Duncan and Isabel turned around to see a guy pointing the gun at Isabel. Kenny began to run over. "Don't move!" he shouted and Kenny froze. He was a scrawny little guy with large glasses and braces. His hair was neatly combed and his voice still cracked. "I was nice to you!" He was talking to Isabel now. "I was always nice to you and you rejected me!" His face was turning red and he was sweating. Duncan could tell he didn't want to do this and that he had probably never shot a gun before.

"Don't do this," Duncan said, trying to calm him down. "You will ruin your life if you do. Just put the gun down and turn yourself in." The kid's hand started to relax and during this time Duncan had moved to put himself between Isabel and the gun. The kid didn't notice. Duncan reached a hand out slowly to grab the gun but the kid did notice this time and reacted suddenly. BANG!


End file.
